Colombian families have begun to avoid a local playground in the country’s capital, Bogotá. Why, exactly? Well, over the last two months, prisoners have been chained to the playground equipment due to overcrowding at detention centers in La Granja, according to NBC News. Just imagine a mother saying to her frightened child, “It’s okay, honey, you can use the slide. Don’t be afraid of the man shackled to the bottom.” It wouldn’t go over too well. The kids and parents deserve to fear grown, criminal men in a place that is supposed to be innocent and inherently safe, but suddenly is not.
This seems unreal at first glance, but prisoners have been making a steady appearance at a playground in Bogotá. The prisoners are overflow from a local prison which has the ability to house 70 prisoners even though there are typically at least 100 prisoners in custody on any given day, according to KLTV. University of Tampa freshman psychology major Kamakshi Dadhwal, thinks that this situation “says volumes about the anticipation of crime in Colombia versus the reality,” as prisons are supposed to be built to house the amount of expected prisoners, but this prison clearly was not.
The officials then decided to chain these extra prisoners to each other, and then to various playground equipment, including a slide. If Bogotá officials had acted more intelligently, they would have rented another facility while one was being constructed to solve this overcrowding problem. Instead, there is no notion of a larger facility being built and the playground is still actively utilized as of last week with no plan to change the practice.
It is absolutely cringe-worthy to imagine a criminal being so close to small children. Sure, the prisoners are chained and they are monitored by six officers at all times, but parents have no idea what crimes the prisoners have committed, just that their crimes range from robbery to drug trafficking, according to KLTV. Fear and lack of information are quite the caustic mix, especially when the scenario involves children. No decent parent would let their small child run and play amidst strange felons who very well could be violent, sex offenders, or drug dealers. Without this playground as a place to play, these children then play in the streets of Bogotá or in their homes without the added socialization and safety that a playground would normally offer. Using the playground as a prison only adds another dangerous aspect to the city, negating claims the New York Daily News made of the city’s positive change.
Concern for the many children who are missing out on the playground because their parents feel it is unsafe is a problem, but the prisoners aren’t being treated well either. Being chained to playground equipment instead of housed in a proper detention facility or prison, human rights activists in Bogotá are claiming their basic human rights are being violated, according to The National Post. These overflow prisoners are not cared for properly and are left in unhygienic circumstances with no proper bathroom on the playground. This is yet another reason why parents should not bring their children to this Colombian playground.
Prisoners are at a higher risk for illness because of where they do their “necessities,” the Associated Press reported. It is also generally disgusting to be chained in an area to serve time, and sleep, with feces and urine so close.
The prisoners also face sleeping outside if detained past daytime, which many are, according to NBC News. The prisoners in these cases utilize makeshift sleeping arrangements, including one who slept on the slide while chained to the bottom. Others have slept under lean-to type shelters devised with tarps and playground equipment, as seen in photos provided by KLTV.
No human being deserves to sit in squalor, exposed to the elements, while handcuffed to a slide and other people, even if they have committed a horrific crime. In treating the terrible horribly, we only perpetuate terror and hate. No child should be denied their opportunity to play safely, no matter what neighborhood they live in.
The idea that prisoners are held on a playground seems fictitious. While it should not be happening, as it negatively affects Colombians throughout the community, it is a reality in Bogotá today that needs to change soon for the well being of all involved.
Rebecca Turner can be reached at rebecca.turner@spartans.ut.edu